Olivier Award Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Following Brenda Blethyn's announcement that the next series of Vera that is about to start filming would be her last, there has been much speculation that the series may not completely end with her departure – but also may not come back in its current form. Several candidates have been mentioned as possibles to ‘replace’ the much-loved actress in a potential spin-off to the original series.

Daniel Mays remembers Michael Douglas and Timothy Van Patten, the respectively star and director of new Apple TV drama Franklin, bursting into song whenever he appeared on set.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor How do you play someone as notorious as Vladimir Putin? It would be easy to telegraph his cruelty, to turn him into a mustache-twirling villain. Or to give over entirely to caricature, without capturing what’s beneath the surface. Will Keen, who embodies the president of Russia in Peter Morgan’s latest play, “Patriots,” avoids these pitfalls.

Strictly star Layton Williams brutally rebuffed Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu when she attempted to justify her actions in Celebrity Big Brother.The former Love Island star got upset because she thinks the 'edit' didn't show everything about her, but Layton wasn't happy with her for saying her eviction was all because of the 'edit'. Earlier in the week, Ekin-Su got mad when Marisha picked her to be up for eviction. Marisha said: "I know if I get to the final, I can't beat you.

Angelique Jackson “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans” star Tom Hollander has signed with CAA for representation.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Alchemist” by Paolo Coelho is set to be adapted for the screen. Legendary Entertainment has acquired the film, TV, and ancillary rights to the acclaimed book, Variety has learned. The company will lead development of a film adaptation along with Sony’s TriStar Pictures and Palmstar, with TriStar set to distribute under their distribution partnership with Legendary.

There are some things that sum up what it is to be quintessentially British, and Dame Judi Dench is one of them. Luckily for us, then, that the star – once described as “the best thing about Britain alongside fish and chips” – has no plans to retire anytime soon. Judi, 88, perhaps most famed for her role as M16 chief M in James Bond, says she wants to work “as much as I can”, despite the difficulties she’s having learning lines because of her degenerative eye condition which has left her barely able to see.

EXCLUSIVE: This is early stage, no deals are done and it might not land until the strike’s over, but the most celebrated play to come along in a good long time is to be turned into a limited TV series with top talent. The play is Sir Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, which had a successful West End run before moving to Broadway last September. I’ve heard that Amblin and executive producer Steven Spielberg are shopping it with Patrick Marber adapting (the Closer writer/director was the play’s original director when it opened in London and he directed the current Broadway incarnation also), and the series will be directed by Stephen Daldry, The Crown multiple Emmy winner.

Coleen, 37, shared a selfie with Colette on Instagram as they posed in sunglasses outside the Duke of York's theatre. The mum-of-four admitted it was the second time she had been to the venue in a week.

Barry Humphries, known for his onstage and TV drag persona Edna Everage and for his character Sir Les Patterson, has died. He was 89. The BBC reported that Humphries had been in hospital in Sydney, Australia and had been suffering from complications following surgery in March. “A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said following the news of Humphries’ death. For his one-person show “Dame Edna: The Royal Tour,” which had a run on Broadway, Humphries received a Special Tony Award for a live theatrical presentation in 2000, and in 2014 “Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour — Eat, Pray, Laugh!” was nominated for an Olivier Award.

EXCLUSIVE: Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, John Berendt’s 1994 bestselling book and Pulitzer Prize finalist is being developed into a new musical by playwright Taylor Mac, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, choreography by Tanya Birl and Sarah O’Gleby and direction by Rob Ashford.

She’s a prolific actress of both stage and screen, with a career rivalled by very few – we could only be talking about a legend like Dame Judi Dench. From James Bond to William Shakespeare, the British icon has appeared in some of the biggest franchises in history, earning an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards and seven Olivier Awards along the way. But we might be seeing less of her in the near future, as she revealed acting has become “impossible” due to health complications.

EXCLUSIVE:  Dyllón Burnside, star of Ryan Murphy shows Pose, American Horror Story and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, will make his London stage debut in Black Superhero, the debut play from British actor, activist and playwright Danny Lee Wynter.

Broadway will honor the legendary Angela Lansbury with the traditional dimming of marquee lights this Saturday evening.

Theaters on London’s West End dimmed their lights Wednesday evening in memory of the late Angela Lansbury who passed away Tuesday at age 96. The London-born actress last appeared on the West End in 2014’s Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre, in which she reprised her Tony-winning role as Madame Arcati. She won the Best Supporting Actress Olivier Award for her turn.

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EXCLUSIVE: Broadway’s Felicia Boswell (’Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert’) will be making her West End debut this July when she takes over from Beverley Knight (Bodyguard Musical), the chart-topping Queen of British Soul, in the enormously enjoyable hit show ‘The Drifters Girl’ which has been running at The Garrick Theatre since last November.

Naman Ramachandran Joel Harper-Jackson made his debut as a leading man in London’s West End in dramatic circumstances when Taron Egerton fainted on stage during the first preview of stage play “Cock.”Harper-Jackson had signed up as an understudy to both leads, “Rocketman” and “Kingsman” star Egerton and “Bridgerton” actor Jonathan Bailey, and had learned both parts. The understudies, who have their own dressing room, were listening to the stage feed on speakers. But all of a sudden, some 75 minutes into the 105-minute show, “there was a silence, and we were all puzzled as to what was happening,” Harper-Jackson tells Variety.After some moments of confusion, the understudies were informed that Egerton had fainted, but that he was fine.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaPatti LuPone tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. The theater legend will sit out her ongoing role in the current Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” while she recovers from the virus. She is expected to return to the production on Tuesday, March 8, a spokesperson for the show said.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaMartin McDonagh’s “Hangmen,” an early casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, will at long last have its Broadway premiere.The show will begin performances Friday, April 8 and open Thursday, April 21 for a limited 10-week engagement. “Hangmen” was in previews in 2020 when coronavirus upended life, forcing Broadway theaters to close for over a year and bringing the live events business to its knees.

EXCLUSIVE: CAA has signed Phil Dunster, coming off the second season of Emmy winning Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso. He plays series regular Jamie Tartt.

Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not represent the views of MSN or Microsoft. We’re living through surreal, topsy-turvy times, as  confirmed by news that Emily In Paris is up for a Golden Globe (for best musical or comedy series).

A musical re-imagining of a Shakespearean tragedy and a revival of one of the most famous shows in theater history dominated the Olivier Award nominations on Tuesday.